MEANING
1. The body of a dead person or animal, or the parts of it that survive.
2. Parts of something that still exist after the rest has disappeared, been used, or been destroyed.
Use it for
referring respectfully to a dead person’s body; describing bodily material left after decomposition; identifying bones or other surviving body parts; discussing the recovery or burial of someone’s bodyDistinguishes the surviving body of a dead person from other surviving fragments and posthumous literary material. Writing functions: Corpse / Bodily Decay.
Words that belong together
- human remains
- mortal remains
- recover the remains
- identify the remains
On the page
They carried her remains home before the winter roads closed.
The roots had grown through the remains beneath the chapel floor.
Only the remains of the staircase marked where the upper floor had been.
Rain collected in the blackened remains of the garden wall.
Word forms
- Base
- remains
Usage notes
Plural-only noun: the remains are; human remains were found. Do not create singular a remain in these senses. Remain is also a verb, but its conjugations are not the grammar of this noun. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
Keep a thought for later. Sign in to save privately.